Artifact
"Artifact" (アーティファクト Ātifakuto) is an archetype of Level/Rank 5 LIGHT Attribute Fairy-Type monsters based around artifacts of ancient history and mythology. They benefit from being destroyed by card effects, and their Main Deck members can be Set as Spell Cards. Design "Artifacts" are based on different types of ancient weapons (except "Beagalltach" and "Moralltach", which are a set of twin swords based on two related swords in the same myth, and "Durendal", which is the combined form of the two prior "Artifacts") with names based on mythological and historical weapons of the same design. Visually, "Artifacts" share the same gold and silver coloration, with a steampunk-ish motif along with a dark black circle along the central vertical axis (two circles for the Xyz) of the weapon and thick black lines engraved along the body and blade. When the monster is "active" (as seen in "Artifact Ignition"), the dark circle is replaced with a gear-like emblem shared among all the "Artifacts" with a colored glow unique to that artifact, with the black engravings sharing that color. The colors of the glowing emblem and engravings follow the 7 colors of the rainbow and 4 colors of the CMYK color model (the exception being "Artifact Durendal," which combines "Artifact Beagalltach" and "Artifact Moralltach" colors). Along with that, a single colored glowing spirit sharing its color is holding the "Artifact" while activated. According to the Primal Origin Booster Pack Guide, these spirits are artificial wielders generated by the weapons based on their most powerful owners. These spirits bear a strong resemblance to Equip Spell Cards Summoned as monsters by Geko Tenma under the influence of "Armament Reincarnation". Story The "Artifacts" are ancient relics that once were used by heroes of other ages. They dwell in a "Treasure Vault" hidden beyond mountains. Using an energy source and their memories, they are able to manifest themselves in the form of those who wielded them in the past. However, it seems many of their memories are missing, and even without knowing why, they can merge together to work as one single "Artifact", one of those being the Memory-Severing Sword, Durendal, created with the power of "Beagalltach" and "Moralltach".YGOrganization - OCG Artifact Lore Playing Style All Main Deck "Artifact" monsters are capable of setting themselves as Spell Cards during your Main Phase. They also share an effect that Summons them after being destroyed on during your opponent's turn by either player's card effects. Finally, all Main Deck "Artifact" monsters share an effect that triggers during your opponent's turn when it is Special Summoned by any means (except "Artifact Caduceus" , which triggers when ANY "Artifact" is Summoned during your opponent's turn, and "Artifacts Unleashed" utilizing these effects, "Artifacts" can generate massive field advantage very quickly while also drawing cards en mass via "Artifact Caduceus" or destroying cards via "Artifact Moralltach". Cards like "Malevolent Catastrophe" and "Absorbing Jar" can provide a huge advantage, as they can can speed up the Summoning and triggering of the effects of the "Artifacts", upon being activated during your opponent's turn. "Shining Angel" and "Nova Summoner" are great cards to run to allow the Summoning of "Artifact Aegis" (as a strong defense) or "Artifact Beagalltach" (to destroy and Special Summon more "Artifacts". If your opponent manages to negate and destroy "Artifacts Unleashed" you can still pull off the secondary effect of "Artifact Sanctum" to destroy one card on the field. So if you were planning of Special Summoning "Artifact Moralltach" you still get to destroy a card. Weaknesses Despite the fact that "Artifacts" can hastily unleash game-changing plays from within their unorthodox, Spell/Trap Card Zones, they are not impeccable as far as weaknesses go. In fact, "Dark Simorgh", combined with any of the following, such as "Soul Drain", "Forbidden Graveyard" and "Light-Imprisoning Mirror" will completely shut down these Decks as the said cards combined will both inhibit their Setting and return from the Graveyard. A similarly total disabling can be achieved with combining Macro tactics (i.e. "Macro Cosmos") with anti-Special Summoning cards (i.e. "Archlord Kristya", "Evilswarm Ophion", "Royal Prison", "Vanity's Emptiness", etc.) to impede them from self-Special Summoning themselves from the Graveyard and keeping them off the Field so they can't return at all and use their secondary effects. "Summon Limit" may also limit their returns, if there are any, albeit much less efficiently. "Ally of Justice Quarantine" and "Gravekeeper's Shaman" can be good Side Deck cards, as they can single-handedly shut down this Deck. "Gravekeeper's" Decks that run "Hidden Temples of Necrovalley" can also completely shut down this Deck. "Ground Collapse", "Ojama King" and "Ojama Knight", while can be annoying for almost every Deck that faces these cards, can surprisingly shut down "Artifact" Decks with relative ease because if all or most of your Monster Card Zones are full, you'll be forced to pick and choose which "Artifacts" you'd like to Special Summon (if you are able to) or worse yet, won't be able to at all, leaving a completely empty field. "Skill Drain" and "Angel O7" can also counteract "Artifacts" because even if they can and do get Special Summoned, their secondary effects won't trigger once they hit the field. You could also run 3 "Jackpot 7" and set them, meaning if you attack and they activate "Malevolent Catastrophe" you would win the Duel if all 3 happened to be set at the time. Even setting just 1 "Jackpot 7" could scare them into not taking the chance of using "Malevolent Catastrophe", at the risk of destroying more, possibly eliminating one of the key cards of the Deck. Finally, most "Artifact" monsters are without their effects, mediocre stat-wise at best for a Swarm Deck. While many of them boast above-average stats (compared to Decks like "Chronomaly"), they can still be easily beaten in battle by many other superior Decks of their type (i.e. "Hieratics" and "Atlanteans".) Plus, in the event that "Artifact" monsters cannot be Set, all of the non-Xyz Monsters are Level 5, making them a very impractical and expendable Normal Summon, if things come down to such. Trivia * The archetype's artwork is similar to the "Fire Fist", as they both feature corporeal and spectral figures fighting together. References